NBCUniversal Domestic TV Distribution’s ‘Steve Harvey’ Renewed For Second Season

NBCUniversal Domestic TV Distribution’s Steve Harvey, the sleeper hit among this season’s crop of new syndicated talk shows, has been renewed for a second season. It joins ABC’s Katie Couric‘s Katie, which had a two-year deal from the get-go, as the two freshman syndicated talkers to be locked in for next fall. The odds for the rest are slim at best. Endemol-producedSteve Harvey has delivered strong demo ratings, improving dramatically its time periods and providing great lead-in for Ellen on the NBC stations, boosting the ratings for Ellen DeGeneres’ veteran talk show.

In the recent November sweep, Steve Harvey was the only new syndicated strip to increase over year-ago time periods, build on its lead-in and grow in consecutive quarter-hour ratings among Households and Women 25-54. In fact, Steve Harvey is one of only 4 syndicated talk shows over the last decade to accomplish all three of these feats in its premiere November sweep, alongside Dr. Phil, Ellen and Dr. Oz.

Steve Harvey is currently sold in 98% of the country including all of the NBC Owned TV stations. Since the show’s debut, markets that are upgrading the talk show include Detroit, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, Austin, Buffalo, Fresno, Ft. Meyers, Tucson, Honolulu, Des Moines, Madison, Tri Cities and Burlington, among many others. In addition, NBCUniversal is actively extending the show with stations across the U.S. for 2014-2016. Last night, Harvey won a 2013 People’s Choice Awards as Favorite New Talk Show Host. Steve Harvey is taped before a live studio audience at the HD NBC 5 studios in downtown Chicago.